Soil and wax removal, especially from inconveniently cleaned places such as corners, baseboards, stairs, and the like, have long been a perplexing problem for both the housewife and maintenance personnel who have charge of cleaning commercial and industrial buildings.
Recent developments and improvements in floor waxes and polishes have created a serious removal problem which heretofore has gone all but unsolved. The new wax and polish products are formulated to improve their hardness, stability, abrasion resistance and durability. It is these very properties that have made removal of such improved products difficult, if not impossible.
Some waxes and polishes have built-in removal aids which make them insoluble in alkaline or neutral media but soluble in acid media. Such removal aids may permit the waxed or polished surface to be cleaned with conventional alkaline cleaning compositions and the removal of the surface coating with an acid cleaning composition. Not all waxes and polishes are so formulated, however.
Most commercial or industrial waxes and polishes, on the other hand, are required for economic reasons to resist stripping or removal for long periods of time. After application, these products are damp mopped either with clear water or a neutral or mild detergent to remove surface dirt without removing the finish. The finish may then be mechanically polished to renew its glossy surface. Such a wax or polish finish is typically used for several months without replacement. When the soil build-up on this surface becomes unsightly or the finish layer is actually worn through, it becomes necessary to strip (remove completely) and recoat.
Floor finishing compositions contain any of a wide variety of substances (e.g., polymeric materials) known to provide protective coatings. Nearly all of these substances are water-insoluble or may be rendered so. They are generally in the form of a solution or an emulsion when they are applied. As the coating dries, the solvent will evaporate, leaving a water-resistant protective finish coating.
Some typical present-day polymers used in floor finishing compositions are formed by copolymerizing styrene, ethyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, acrylonitrile and ethylene monomers. Some waxes are based upon mixtures of natural materials such as Carnauba wax and synthetic polymeric materials such as polyacrylates or polystyrene. Some common wax formulations include Carnauba wax and an alkali-soluble resin. Other compositions include synthetic wax compositions consisting of Fischer-Tropsch waxes, oxidized micro-crystalline waxes, polyethylene resins, oil-soluble resins, etc. Emulsion floor finish compositions may include styrene, modified shellac, styrene-acrylate copolymer mixtures, acrylate compositions, acrylate and acid-sensitive alkali-resistant mixtures. A commercially successful cleaning and stripping composition must not only be effective on these finish coatings, but it must also not harm conventional floor surface materials to which these finishes are applied. Such floor surface materials include vinyl, vinyl asbestos and asphalt floor coverings, concrete, terrazzo, wood, etc.
The known cleaners or removers for such wax and finish coatings have been classified into five general types: (1) soap (e.g., fatty acid soap and caustic compositions), (2) detergent (e.g., fatty acid soap and alkanolamide compositions), (3) detergent plus builders, (4) detergent plus builders plus solvent such as butyl "Cellosolve" or isopropyl alcohol and (5) acid.
For a description of such cleaning compositions and this classification system, see Proceedings of the 50th Mid-Year Meeting of the Chemical Specialties Manufacturers Association, Inc., New York, May 18-20, 1964, pages 126-133 the paper entitled "Removal of Modern Floor Polishes" by George H. Gray and Joe Domin. This paper reveals that, while freshly finished floor surfaces are fairly easy to strip of their finish, aged finishes are difficult, if not impossible, to remove with only a stripping or cleaning composition, i.e., without the aid of mechanical abrading as with a scrubbing machine fitted with an abrasive pad. Technical Bulletin No. 2202 of the Ultra Division of Witco Chemical Co. also discloses some known wax stripping compositions. This article suggests that a successful wax stripping composition must contain inorganic alkaline builders and organic detergents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,234 discloses a multi-purpose cleaning concentrate, suggesting the inclusion of some of the ingredients of the present invention among a multitude of other ingredients which have been found to be either ineffective or detrimental to the cleaning efficacy of the composition of the present invention.